The Baltimore Ravens were shorthanded in Week 16 and couldn't take care of business as they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 41-21. This was a must-win game for the Ravens but unfortunately, their injuries caught up to them and they couldn't take care of business against a very good Bengals team.

There are plenty of reasons why the Ravens couldn't get a win on Sunday, so let's take a look at three takeaways from their Week 16 loss against the Bengals.

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Ravens Week 16 Takeaways

3. No Lamar, no success

This is an obvious statement considering that Lamar Jackson is one of the best quarterbacks in all of football. There's a reason why the guy has an MVP and there's a reason why if he played a little bit better towards the back end of the season, he could have won another one this year. He's one of the best quarterbacks in all the football and whenever the Ravens don't have him, obviously their offense is not going to succeed the same way that they usually do.

In the offense's defense, they actually played pretty decently against the Bengals as they were still able to score 21 points. Josh Johnson still threw for 304 yards including two touchdowns with only one interception. He did everything that the Ravens could have asked him for on Sunday but the defense was simply not able to do enough to help them get a win.

2. Defense was lost once again

In the defense's defense, they have taken on the Green Bay Packers and the Cincinnati Bengals in the past two weeks. However, giving up 31 plus points in both of the contests and allowing both quarterbacks to look like they are playing a game of Madden is not a good sign regardless of who is injured and who is not. Joe Burrow threw for 525 yards which is almost the most in NFL history.

If the Ravens want to have any sort of success in the last two games of the season and somehow sneak into the playoffs, they're going to need to take care of business and get stops because they simply have not been able to do so the past two weeks. It is understandable that they had some guys missing and that it wasn't going to be easy to beat the Bengals with as many injuries as they have. Giving up 525 yards and 41 points to any team in the NFL regardless of how many injuries a team has is completely unacceptable and that was the reason why Baltimore was not able to walk away with the win in Week 16.

1. Playoffs could be gone

If the Ravens can win their next two games, they do still have a great chance at making the playoffs and possibly even winning the division. They're going to need some magic to happen for them to walk away with the AFC North, but crazier things have happened in that division. The issue is, Baltimore's taking on the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers who are two good football teams.

If they cannot take care of business, there's a great chance that they are not going to make the playoffs and with the uncertainty of Lamar Jackson and how his injury is playing out, they could be shorthanded once again on Sunday.